Om! That (world) is a complete whole. This (world) too is a complete whole. From the complete whole only, the (other) complete whole rose. Even after removing the complete whole from the (other) complete whole, still the complete whole remains unaltered and undisturbed.

Om Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!

I will preach the Brahman – science. Brahman taught it to Narada, Narada to Brhatsena, Brhatsena to Indra, Indra to Bharadvaja, Bharadvaja to his puils who desired to preserve their life.

“Struck is the poison, annihilated is the poison, destroyed is the poison; it is struck by Intra’s thunder-bolt, Svaha! May it originate from snakes, from vipers, from scorpions, from cankers, from salamanders, from amphibious animals or from rats”.

“May you be Anantaka’s messenger, or be Anantaka himself! May you be Vasuki’s messenger, or be Vasuki himself! May you be Taksaka’s messenger, or be Taksaka himself! May you be Karkotaka’s messenger, or be Karkotaka himself! May you be Samkhapulika’s messenger, or be Samkhapulika himself! May you be Padmaka’s messenger, or be Padmaka himself! May you be Maha Padmaka’s messenger, or be Maha Padmaka himself! May you be Elapatraka’s messenger, or be Elapatraka himself! May you be Mahailapatraka’s messenger, or be Mahailapatraka himself! May you be Kalika’s messenger, or be Kalika himself! May you be Kulika’s messenger, or be Kulika himself! May you be Kambalasvatara’s messenger, or be Kambalasvatara himself!”

For twelve years snakes do not bite him who hears this great science on the new moon night. The snakes do not bite him as long as he lives who, having recited this great science on the new moon night, wears it (as an amulet).

He who teaches it to eight Brahmanas he releases (from the effects of snake bite) by merely touching with grass, with a piece of wood, with ashes. One who teaches it to a hundred Brahmanas, he releases by a mere glance. One who teaches it to a thousand Brahmanas, he releases by the mere thought – he releases it by the mere thought.

Thus spake the exalted Brahman – the exalted Brahman. This is the essence of the Garuda Upanishad.

Om! That (world) is a complete whole. This (world) too is a complete whole. From the complete whole only, the (other) complete whole rose. Even after removing the complete whole from the (other) complete whole, still the complete whole remains unaltered and undisturbed.

Michael, already a distinguished lecturer and author, is completing a PhD thesis on the subject and the information on his website alone is simply astounding, applying academic rigour and real enthusiasm to the subject.

We share to conviction that Garuda is a deity who deserves to be elevated in terms of the perception of importance to both Hindu and Buddhist practice.

I look forward to the thesis and the book which I hope will follow, which must surely be the primary source of information about Garuda.

This content appeared in a very early post with kind permission from Khandro, but was not copied over very well, and didn’t include all the relevant info and pictures.

Indian Mythology

Garuda (Jap. Karura) is a mythological bird usually described as having a human form with the head of a bird. Created from the cosmic egg that also hatched the 8 elephants supporting the universe, he was fully mature when hatched. Garuda can easily traverse the universe from end to end. It can kill and eat poisonous snakes with no harmful consequences to itself.

The oldest collection of Indian hymns, the Rig Veda says:

They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni
And he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman.
To what is One, sages give many a title;
They call it Agni, Yama, Matarishvan . . . . .

< Vishnu and Lakshmi (Laxmi) surveying creation

Garuda and the Sacred Kusha Grass

The Hindu epic, Mahabharata, tells of the connection between Garuda and sacred kusha grass [Poa cynosuroides,] the same kind of grass provided as a meditation seat for the Buddha.

When Garuda brought some amrita from the moon for the Nagas as his mother’s ransom, Indra tried to prevent it. The amrita would make the nagas immortal, and they would pose a threat to Indra’s position as King of Heaven.

But faithful Garuda would not compromise his mother’s liberation. However, he arranged that after the nagas received it, it could then be stolen from them. In preparation for this, Garuda laid the nectar of immortality contained in its flask on the grass. That made it easy for Indra to steal which he did while the nagas were bathing in the stream.

When they emerged from the water, they expected the amrita to be on the kusha grass, itself. As they tried to lick up the divine substance, the spiky leaves of kusha slit their tongues. It is for this reason that the tongues of serpents are forked, and also that kusha [or kusa] is sacred — for having been in contact with amrita.

Garuda and the Kumbh Mela

The Hindu festival, the Kumbhmela, is held at a different spot on the shores of the Ganges every 12 years. At the beginning of 2001, Allahabad was the focus for this largest of the world’s gatherings. It is one of four spots where Garuda is believed to have rested during a battle with demons over the pot of divine nectar of immortality. Garuda’s flight lasted 12 divine days, or 12 years of mortal time, so the Kumbh Mela is celebrated at each city of 3 towns, alternating among them every three years.

South India

According to South Indian legend, in Kanchipuram an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, who was a sculptor, carved a Garuda image out of wood. Having been correctly carved according to the Shilpa Shastras, the figure came to life. It flew into the air, heading towards the south. At the village of Parakkai, the Garuda took a dip in the tank in front of the temple there, exclaiming with delight. Then he rose again and hovered around the temple deity as if doing pradakshina (Tib. kora, devotional circling.)

An artisan working on a pillar at the temple saw the bird and for some reason, hurled his chisel at it hurting its right wing. The bird fell to earth crying, “Madhusudhana,” to the man’s disbelief. The famous 4-armed stone image of Vishnu was later carved and installed on that spot.

< Kite for annual festival in Parakkai.

In Nepal

Near Nagarkot in Nepal there is a Vishnu temple dating to the time of King Manadeva, who is also associated with the stupa of Bodhnath. In the courtyard is a pillar inscribed with one of the earliest histories of Nepal. The place is called Changu Narayana. Atop the pillar is a kneeling figure facing the shrine known as the Manadeva Garudasince the moustached face is believed to represent the king.

Buddhists also worship at this temple, where the deity is called Hari-vahanodbhava-Lokeshvara.

Śakra (or, Shakra) is the name that Buddhist scriptures give to the king of the god realm, Indra. He appointed the garudas to guard Mount Sumeru and the Trāyastrimśa heaven from the attacks of the ashuras (“titans” or opponents of the gods.)

Garuda the Compassionate Observer

In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Garuda is a guardian of Lord Shiva. A tale is told how once, perched on Mount Kailash, Garuda noticed a tiny bird. He was struck by the contrast between the majesty of Kailash and Shiva’s palace, and the delicacy of ” . . . a beautiful creature, a little bird seated on the arch crowning the entrance to Shiva’s place. Garuda wondered aloud: “How marvelous is this creation! One who has created these lofty mountains has also made this tiny bird — and both seem equally wonderful.”

Just then Yama, the god of death appeared, riding his black buffalo. Garuda noticed that the gaze of the Master of Death briefly fell upon the bird, but then he continued on his way into the abode of Shiva.

Since a mere glance from Lord Yama presages death, Garuda’s heart was filled with pity for the tiny bird. He gently picked it up and flew off with it clutched carefully in his powerful talons. He took it far, far, away to a deep forest where he gently placed it on a rock beside a rushing brook. Then he returned to Kailash and assumed his customary position at Shiva’s gate.

When Yama emerged from his consultation with the Great God, he nodded to Garuda in
recognition. Garuda took this opportunity to ask Lord Death, “Just before you went inside, I saw you notice a little bird. You seemed to have a pensive expression on your face. May I know why?”

Yama answered, “When my eyes fell on the bird, I saw that soon it would find its death in the jaws of a great python. But there are no such serpents here, high on Kailash, and I was briefly puzzled.”

Again, Garuda marveled; this time at the inevitability of the process which is karma.

Himalayan Buddhist Tradition

In some cultures, the garuda acquired the lower body of a bird and became known as a kinnara or shang-shang. The shang-shang is associated with Buddha Amoghasiddhi (Unerring Accomplisher,) whose consort is Green Tara.

Amoghasiddhi is the Buddha of the northern direction and is representative of the skandhaSamskara. He is depicted as green, with his hands in the abhaya — the “do not fear,” or protection, mudra. He is the conqueror of “thirst.” That is, working with visualizations and other Vajrayana methods that focus on him, we can transmute yearning that leads to attachment — that which is often simplistically expressed as “desire” or “greed.” Another of his symbols is the vishvavajra or double vajra that stands for Foundation and also, for resolve and stability.

Kyunglung or, Garuda Valley, lies to the southwest of Mount Kailash. Once the capital of the land called Zhang Zhung, it was the site of the Silver Palace (Khyunglung Ngulkhar,) the ruins of which are still there in the upper Sutlej Valley of India.

When Buddha Was a Suparna

Garuda is king of the class of beings known as suparnas. To demonstrate and share his profound understanding of the lure of a woman with a monk who was having difficulty with his vow of celibacy, the Buddha is said to have recounted his own experience as King of the “sunbirds,” who once ruled the Isle of Seruma, a land of nagas:

Once while on a gambling junket to Varanasi (formerly anglicized as Benares,) he had a love affair with his host’s extraordinarily beautiful chief wife, Sussondi. She had been informed of the garuda’s gorgeous appearance by palace attendants, and he was smitten as soon as she entered the gaming room. Under the cover of a dark and dangerously violent wind that the suparna had stirred up, they flew away to his island home. There, they made passionate love, but then he had the nerve to return to the host-king’s palace — without her.

Meanwhile, Sagga, the magical minstrel of the King of Benares, was sent to search for the missing Queen. On board ship, his song was so wonderful that a makara emerged from the ocean depths in excitement and smashed it to bits. He drifted on a plank that finally landed under a banyan on Seruma. Queen Sussondi, walking alone by the shore, recognized the nearly-drowned man and took him to her quarters to revive him. She had to hide him in case the garuda should recognize him, of course, and with Sagga living in secret there in her quarters, one thing led to another.

Six weeks went by until a ship from Benares landed to provision there, and Sagga made it successfully back to his home having fulfilled, at least to a certain extent, his royal mission.

Skillfully and with delicacy, he sang of his adventure and his longing to the King and his faithless guest, the suparna, who even joined in with his wonderful voice. On hearing Sagga’s story expressed so skillfully, the garuda understood its significance.

Though he was the most splendid of all creatures, he had not been able to keep Sussondi for himself alone. Now filled with regret, he flew away to fetch her and returned her to the King. In that lifetime, he never again visited Benares.

There, in Jeta’s Grove, Buddha then told The Four Noble Truths and all about the births revealing also, that the long-ago King of Benares had been his own student, Ananda.

Indonesia

Today Indonesia is largely Muslim, but the culture is rooted in its past as theancient playground of Indian rajahs. The legendary Isle of Seruma may well have been somewhere in that extensive archipelago. Hence, besides embodying stamina and determination, the garuda’s association with luxury and sensuality is probably why it was chosen as the emblem of Indonesia Airlines.

Brother Chhepu

In Nepal, the “mask of protection” is the face of a garuda-child called Chhepu. Folklore tells of his origin. He was one among the three brothers, Garuda, Chhepu and Hitimanga. Their mother had requested her husband to help her produce a son

“. . . who would be the bravest, most truthful, and endowed with all superior marks. Her husband told her to wait for a certain period. She being too impatient to wait for a long period, looked in the nest to see whether he was born or not. She found Chhepu in a premature condition, only with his head formed.

It is also told that Chhepu disappeared from the world as he did not want to see the Kaliyuga, the great yuga, when evil would completely triumph over good and the world would be destroyed by Vishnu in his incarnation as Kalki, the destroyer.

Knowing his bravery, truthfulness and endowment with all superior marks, Manjushree wanted to see him and requested Chhepu to show his full form. Chhepu appeared slowly amidst the cloud. Manjushree, as a veteran artist, immediately drew his form with his foot secretly without the knowledge of Chhepu. When Manjushree had only finished drawing his head, Chhepu came to know Manjushree’s deception and immediately disappeared. Due to his bravery, truthfulness and superior marks, he was given the [pride of] place at the top of the main entrance of stupas [as a] protection from all the dangers. Nagas [snakes] are the food of Chhepu.” ~ Nepali site, no longer available.

See an exquisite miniature chaitya/stupa at AsianArts with protective garudas or rather, kinnaras, at the corners. (More about kinnaras below.)

Hybrids

Hybrids, or what we might call monsters such as creatures like the makara, originated, according to Buddhist tradition, during the time right after the Buddha’s Awakening when all hatred vanished from the world. Then, animals that had been foe and prey mated with each other, and produced offspring such as these.

Garuda in its form as part-human is certainly in this category. Garuda Bherunda is a double-headed form that may have led to the Austro-Hungarian and American forms called the Double Eagle (as in the title of J. P. Sousa’s famous march.)

The Two Kinnara

There was once a hunter who caught a pair of kinnara alive in the Himavanta forest. (As you know, the body of such creatures is human but the feet, wings and tail are those of a bird.) The hunter took them to the king, who asked why he had brought them. Were they offerings? Could they be roasted and eaten?

The hunter answered that kinnara have two interesting qualities: they have sublime voices, so if you can get them to sing they are able to do so more beautifully than people. The second interesting point is that kinnara dance wonderfully, much more beautifully than people.

The king commanded the kinnara to sing and dance, but even after being ordered two or three times, they just stood there looking at the king. The king, seeing that the kinnara would neither sing nor dance, then ordered his minister to have them roasted for dinner. Confronted by this dreadful situation, the female kinnara (called kinnari cf. canary) sat last spoke up:

That we do not dance is not because we can’t; that we do not sing is not because we are afraid of losing our voices. In fact, we would really like to sing and dance because we are sure that we do so more beautifully than any human being. The reason why we do not sing is because nearly all the songs known to man are just idle chatter. If we were to sing such songs, then we would not be following the tenet of Right Speech.

Because we are afraid of doing any evil is the reason why we do not sing for you. The reason why we do not dance is that such dancing will only cause Your Majesty to be sensually aroused which again is a source of evil.

That’s why we won’t sing or dance – it’s not that we are lazy or don’t want to show our skill or are too stupid to understand you. To sing and dance would be harmful to ourselves and harmful to Your Majesty, and we would both fall into hell as a result.

The king was pleased by what he heard. He said, “This is indeed an artful thing that has been said. Release the kinnari, but have the male which has remained silent roasted for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

The male kinnara said, “All grass-eating animals have the rain as their support. Farm labourers have beasts of burden as their support. As for my life, at this moment my life has Your Majesty as my support, as this kinnari has me as her support. If Your Majesty wishes to release this kinnari, do as you wish, but she will be without refuge. And I will be faulty in the performance of my duty to her as her refuge.

If you are going to release her alone, please slay me here and now so that the kinnari will have no doubt that I am unable to help her anymore.”

(These words were true, polite and said at the right time, with the right intention. Then again, what the kinnara had said also qualifies as artful speech.) Thus the king released the both of them, and had the hunter take them back to where they had been caught, together with a golden ornament fitting for a couple able to speak artful speech.

~ from a Mangala Sutra(wedding) teaching at Dhammakaya Institute of Belgium

Canary

Some etymological speculations: kinnari = canary, the warbling yellow bird; kinor is Biblical (and modern) Hebrew for the melodious ancient harp or lyre, the musical instrument whose shape provides the name for the freshwater lake at the north eastern tip of Israel, “Gennaseret” ie. the “Sea” of Galilee, source of the Jordan river. What is relevant here is the association with sweetness, either in the sound of its waves lapping the shore, the sweetness of its water or that of the fruit which grows by it.

The garuda is certainly related to the simurgh of Persian mythology. A related creature is the rukh or roc of The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment ( a.k.a. A1000 Nights and a Night.) Both these mysterious creatures of a class known to mythologists as wundervogel, are distinctly but entirely birds.

The wicked witch in the film, The Wizard of Oz, had flying monkeys as her minions. Traditionally, however, sorcerers and evil-doers have allies in the form of birds who can go far, fast, and high enough to spy on anyone anywhere even in the dark of night. In the Tibetan epic, Gesar of Ling, when living beings do not cooperate with the evil hermit, Ratna, the wizard has to construct “robots” out of metal.

The Sinister Metal Birds

“Gongmo watched her son as he sat putting the finishing touches to the bow, his usually mobile face set in concentration. She had to admit that Gesar was not a very handsome child, certainly he did not have the sort of face one would associate with a child of the gods. In fact his broad, frank smile, laughing eyes, and snub nose made it far more believable that he was the child of nomadic bandits. But when he talked with Gongmo about his mission, he became serious, his whole personality seemed to change and he showed a compelling and definite charisma.

Terrible screeching filled the air. Gongmo ran to the window, “Gesar, what is it?” She looked up and saw three enormous birds circling over the house, like vultures over carrion. “What are they, Gesar? Never have I seen such birds!” As Gongmo went outside for a better view, Gesar held his mother’s arm.

“No, Ama-la. Do not go outside.”
“Why? Tell me! What is going to happen? What are these birds, Gesar?”

The screeching was directly overhead. Gongmo slammed the window shutters and bolted them. Gesar did not reply. The little boy, no more than eighteen inches high, with bare buttocks beneath his tiny sheepskin chuba, was concentrating totally on putting the final touches to his bow. His nimble fingers worked on silently, as though racing against time.

“Holy gods, they’re going to attack us!” The cry of the birds had an urgent, threatening quality. “What shall we do?” Gongmo backed away from the windows and grabbed Gesar as the room darkened and the shutters shook violently, wings beating against them. Gongmo instinctively held the child close, both to protect him and to seek reassurance. She looked down at Gesar, her “magic” child, small round face, dark, wise eyes; but still he was a child.

Suddenly he slipped from her hold and stood alone in the middle of the room as the shutters of one windows splintered, and, for a few seconds, framed in the window, Gongmo saw an enormous bird filling the room with an eerie metallic rattle from its shimmering black feathers, its metal beak flashing with reflected light, the edge as sharp as a well-honed blade. As the bird launched itself at Gesar, the child, who already had an arrow on the bow, loosed it, a fragile wand only a few inches long. It pierced the bird’s feathers. The creature screamed with pain, arched its body, then fell so close to Gesar that the point of its beak touched Gesar and drew blood.

Gongmo was terrified at the viciousness of the creature and ran to the window. Already the other two birds were preparing to swoop through the window.

“No, Gesar!” Gongmo ran over to him as he struggled to lift the bar from the door. He looked up at his mother. “Do not fear, Ama-la. Let me go to meet them. It is better.”

Gongmo hesitated, then reluctantly unbarred the door for her son. Swiftly the birds came out of the sky, close together. As they dived toward Gesar, Gongmo saw townspeople crouching on roofs and in doorways, terrified by the malevolent looking creatures. Quicker than the eye could follow, Gesar fired two arrows. Each found its mark and the two birds fell from the sky.

. . . .

Tondon was furious when he heard the news. His rage alternated with desperation at what seemed the inevitable outcome of his struggle with the boy. He was even more out of humor when he had climbed again to Ratna’s hermitage. The hermit was sitting outside the cave and clearly expecting Tondon. The steward thrust a scarf [as a gesture of respectful greeting] at the hermit, who was slightly disconcerted with his client’s changed attitude.

Tondon continued. “I am lost. There is no one else who can do anything. You were my last chance.”
The hermit irritably spun a prayer wheel on the table to relieve his feelings. “Do not be troubled.” he said, trying to sound persuasively confident. “It was a trial. I do not expect you to understand the subtitles of my actions,” he said airily.

Tondon knew enough about the hermit and his ways to see that he was trying to cover his error. Tondon wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said “Rinpoche, remember this. If this devil child becomes king, you, all of us, will be in danger.”

Gigantic Birds

Folklorists such as the Grimms referred to the motif of the mysterious gigantic bird as the wundervogel —vogel is German for bird.) The wondrous man-bird, Garuda, is certainly in this category and so it is related to the roc or rukh of Arabian and Persian mythology that snatches Sinbad the Sailor in A Thousand and One Nights (“The Arabian Nights.”) He escapes its nest by riding on the back of mother bird. His ” Fifth Voyage” begins with the discovery of a rukh’s egg on the beach. When, against orders his men break it, the parent birds bombard the ship with boulders, and only Sindbad survives.

Sir Richard F. Burton, renowned 19th century adventurer and linguist said that rukh is a Persian word with many different meanings: cheek (Lalla Rookh or “tulip cheek,” title of Moore’s poem,) hero as the rook chess piece and also, it is a term for rhinoceros, a similarly mysterious beast. Burton compared it to the eorosh in the Zoroastrian scripture, Zend Avesta.

He also recognized the rukh’s relation to other mythological birds such as the ancient Egyptian bennu bird or ti-bennu, and says that some give the pronunciation of the glyph of a large bird with one claw raised as rekhit and that it denotes pure, wise spirits.

In the Persian epic, The Shanamah, we encounter the Sên-Murv (or, simurgh.) The poet, ‘Aufi ( 13thC.), described it as inheriting “energy from the falcon, power of flight from the Huma, a long neck from the ostrich, a feathery collar from the ring dove, and strength from the karkadann.” In the epic, it saves Zal by feeding him her own chick when his father abandoned him. Later, she returned him to Sam, but gave him a feather that, if set a-light, would instantly call her should he ever again need help.

Egypt

The ancient Egyptian bird with a human head is the Ba, symbolic of one of the aspects of an individual that continues after death. The Bennu was called “ba of Re” and also, “that which emerged from the heart of Osiris.” Usually rendered into English as “phoenix,” a bennu is sometimes depicted with two primary feathers on its crest, or crowned with the Atef symbolic of Osiris (a white headdress with an ostrich plume on either side) or with the solar disc symbolic of Re (Ra, Aten.) Bennu derives from weben, which seems to have the meaning of “begin to shine.”

At Koptos, there is an image of Bennu with two human arms stretched up and out towards the morning star. Long thin arms are used in hieroglyhs to stand for light, and life-giving energy.

The Bennu was the symbol of Heliopolis (the name given by the Greeks to the spot where the sun seems to appear, as a tribute to Helios, the sun god) since it rises “at dawn from the waters of the Nile.” As a symbol of rebirth, it is related to Khepera, the scarab deity that rolls the sun in the manner of a dung-beetle, from its setting in the west around to its point of rising in the east.

The shape of the Bennu evolved into that of a heron, the most apparent of the birds to perch on islands of high ground as the Nile floods subside. As such, it was associated with primordial Horus who formed earth from water. In that connection, it is shown perched on its nest in the sacred willow at the top of the first mound. This mound was called the ben-ben a term also used for a most sacred artefact.

The Bennu combines the two main types of wundervogel. One is an embodiment of Spirit, like the Feng, the Chinese bird symbolic of female energy (another case in which ‘phoenix’ is the usual English translation) and also an embodiment of wisdom similar to Kirni, the “wise and ancient bird” that in Norse mythology perches upon the World Ash-tree, Yggdrasil.

The name, Kirni reminds us of Kinara (see part one of Garuda,) but its role as a prophetic bird or store of knowledge evokes Gamayun, the bird that recounts the ancestral Russian myths of the gods and their descendants.

The Phoenix, Roc & Simurgh

The phoenix is a symbol of transformation and a Christian symbol of death and resurrection, for the Phoenix‘ eggs require fire to hatch. It is rumoured to live a 1 000 years and then it dies in flames. In the European alchemical tradition, she is a symbol of transmutation, but in fact it is not she who is directly changed, since it is her children who are born from the fire. Nevertheless, fire is required for their birth just as some of our finer qualities require dire experience to emerge.

An other kind of wondrous bird has superior or unique physical qualities of size and strength. Marco Polo’s Journal says that the “Ruch” had wing-feathers twelve paces long. The name of the Persian Simurgh means ‘like thirty fowl’, the Hebrew Gemara mentions a bird so large its feet are in the ocean and its head in the sky. The Arabs have Anka or ‘longneck.’ Buddhaghosha (early 5th century CE) mentions in the Parables, the hatti.linga bird with the strength of five elephants. The Turks refer to the Kerkes; the Greeks gave us the griffon from gryps, and the Russians have a ‘norka.’

Burton was convinced that references to gigantic birds were founded in fact, citing the remains discovered in Madagascar of an enormous ostrich ( Aepyornus) whose egg could hold 2.35 gallons.

Vishnu: In one version of the Indian cosmogony, Vishnu is the ground giving rise to the lotus upon which Brahma sits and through whose agency the world arises. Lord Vishnu sleeps and dreams, all the while sweating universes through his every pore. He lies comfortably upon the Tortoise, Kashyapa, who floats on the Profound Ocean which is the ground of all existence.

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Garuda Purana Essentials

Introduction

A Purana is a holy text among Hindus (and Buddhists and Jains). The word purana means “of ancient times”. Puranans are old works, a group of religious texts. There are many puranas. What most of them have in common, is a build-up that tells of creation, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and describes Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography. In other words, a Purana is a collection of myth, legend, and genealogy, and tells versions of how the world was made.

Puranas are usually written in the form of stories told by one person to someone else. Purana texts might have been written all over India, although Vyas is traditionally considered the compiler of them. Common ideas are found throughout the various Puranas. The age and origin of Puranas vary greatly, and they have been added to in the course of time as well.

In Puranic texts sectarianism has crept into ancient mythology, usually with one god extolled above others. Puranas are structured similarly, but are devoted to or they extol different gods, even though various Puranas contain the same stories or similar stories.

About eighteen of the many texts called ‘Puranas’ are called Mahapuranas, great puranas. Dimmitt and van Buitenen have listed twenty – the numbers in brackets are verses each contains):

Agni (15,400 verses)

Bhagavata (18,000 – the most celebrated and popular of the Puranas)

Bhavishya (14,500)

Brahma (24,000)

Brahmanda (12,000)

Brahmavaivarta (18,000)

Garuda (19,000)

Harivamsa (16,000)

Kurma (17,000)

Linga (11,000)

Markandeya (9,000 – including Devi Mahatmyam)

Matsya (14,000)

Narada (25,000)

Padma (55,000)

Shiva (24,000)

Skanda (81,100)

Vamana (10,000)

Varaha (10,000)

Vayu (24,000)

Vishnu (23,000).

There are also at least twenty Puranas more to be found.The Garuda Purana is in the Atharva-Veda and is classified as one of the Vishnu Puranas.

More on Puranas

“I will preach the Brahman-science. It was taught to pupuls who desired to preserve their life. It is the science which achieves good.May we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious!
May we enjoy the term of life allotted . . .
May the all-knowing Sun bless us!

– Garuda Purana.

The Puranas constitute a class of literature that deals with legends of gods, asuras (demons), sages and kings of old, and contans abstracts of works in arts, sciences, medicine, grammar, dramaturgy, music, astrology and other subjects, affords insight into different phases and aspects of Hinduism – its mythology, idol-worship, theism, pantheims, love of God, philosophy, superstition, festivals and ceremonies. Puranas are “folk encyclopedies” of ancient and medieval Hinduism. [From a definition – Gpu xvi]

Puranas also tell of duties among men, and they are written in an easy, flowing style. About eighteen surviving Puranas are called more important than other Puranas. The Garuda Purana is among the main ones, who – to repeat – deal with quite similar material. This means Puranas is an eclective genre.

The speaker of the Garuda Purana is Garud(a), who narrates it to Kasyapa, who tells it to Vyasa, to in turn narrates it to Shiva. The work has three parts (kandas). They are Acara kanda (also called karma kanda) of 240 chapters, which deals with karma; preta kanda (dharma kanda), which deals with dharma (law, justice, etc.); and Brahma kanda (moksha kanda), which speaks of liberation, freedom (moksha) [Gpu ix-xx]

The Garuda Purana was produced through several stages, and was subjected to revisions and redactions. And therefore it is difficult to fix the date of the Purana as a whole, writes J. H. Shastri. Further, as a Purana devoted to Vishnu, the Garuda Purana gives prominent place to him, before Shiva, Brahma, and other ancient, Vedic gods. Although the work describes Vishnu as the Supreme Being, that does not exclude attention to or honour of other deities. The supreme deity can be realized by knowledge and not worship (kriya), it is held (Gpu III 12:59), and the Purana holds that the individual self and the Supreme Self are identical. To realize this is liberation, explains Shastri, and tells the Lord is eternal and formless (etc.). [Gpu xxvii-xxxv].

The content of this Purana reflects a sad fact: that in the Puranic literature of AD 500 to 1000, sectarianism creeps into mythology, and one god is extolled above the others. The tendecy to theism in the Puranic universe exalts several supreme gods who are not prominent in the Vedic pantheon (the ancient assembly of gods and goddesses). Of prime interest are cosmology, myths, and ascetics who sometimes eclipse the old gods through their tapas (penance).

In the Puranic world-picture the mountain Meru stands at the centre. Some interpret Mt. Meru symbolically to mean the spine. There are seven layers of heaven, and the summit of heaven is the world (loka, level) of God the Creator.

Puranic myths develop around the notion of four yugas (world ages): (1) The Satya or Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali-Yuga. In the order given, they show increasing deterioration of moral and features and social conditions. “The more Kali-Yuga, the more predicaments”. Each yuga has its “dawn” and “dusk” (skandas).

– Tormod Kinnes

Garuda Purana Essentials

The most unfortunate women sinned against their husbands

GOD the Creator and others can see Srinivasa as of eternal form of lustrous body. [3.24.8-11]

During sports wearing of blue cloth is not forbidden. Nor it is forbidden as a bedsheet. An indigo dyed cloth should not be touched otherwise. Persons regularly using blue cloth will fall into hell. [1.222.49]

A woman who commits sins against her husband alive or dead shall never get a husband in her rebirth. She will be the most unfortunate creature among women. [2.26.59]

A soft-hearted, truthful, pure, and kind-natured brahmin went to a forest to practice penance. He used to perform homas and great sacrifices. He was afraid of the other world. He strictly followed the instruction of his preceptor. He was delighted in serving guests. He observed yogic practices. He spent years in the secluded forest. Then the idea of visiting holy centres entered his mind. [2.22.22-27]

He who transcribes Itihasas (epics) or Puranas or makes a gift of them, attains merit equal to that of gifting Vedic text or even twice the fruit. [1.98.16-17]

In the Krita age they extol penance; in the Treta they extol knowledge, in Dvapara sacrifices and charities and in the Kali only gifts are extolled. [2.34.2]

One should feed a brahmin every day faithfully. [cf. 1.50.73]

I tell a great secret. There is nothing that the preceptor will not disclose to his disciple. [3.21.33]

The universe evolved out of the Cosmic Egg is secondary creation.

The giver of the Vedas (in manuscript) attains the region of Brahma not accessible even to gods. Those who transcribe the Vedas with meanings, yajna sastras, dharma sastras, on payment, also attain the region of Brahma. [1.98.14]

There are five types of boats [panca pravahana] to succour saintly men who may otherwise get drowned in the ocean of worldly existence – tulasi, brahmins, cows, Primeval Being, and the Ekadasi day. [2.29.23]

Getting “drowned” in Primeval Being is all-good, and Self-Knowledge, gurus say, on the other hand.* [Added commentary]

The wise declare . . . where there is no exegesis or commentary on the supreme songs . . . where there are no people who understand the substance thereof, one should not live even for a moment. [3.20.26]

The wise declare knowledge to be manifold, consisting of various grades – high, low and middling. All that knowledge is found in the Bhagavata Purana. [3.1.45]

Prana (vital airs) is called ahamkara; it is a part of Garutmat [Garuda]. It is inferior to Kama and Indra by ten percent. [3.28.36]

There are people who are dead by fasts [hunger?], killed by fanged animals, dead by strangulation, who are slayers of preceptors, killed by wolves, who die of arson or imprecations of Brahmins, who die of cholera, who commit suicide, who fall from a peak and die, who hang themselves to death, who are drowned in tank, river or ocean – listen to their plight. These go to hell. [2.40.4-12]

Abiding in the hearts of his devotees, he multiplies their devotion to God the Being. Therefore he [Wind, Vayu] is called the devotee of God. [3.16.28]

They study the Vedas and discuss. But they do not realize the Ultimate Reality just as a spoon does not know the taste of food. [2.49.78]

One should enjoy the essence of the Bhagavata Purana – a rare thing in this mortal world. One should enjoy the essence so that tears of joy may trickle down the eye – a phenomena very rare to occur. [3.20.43]

He who eats sweets only becomes rheumatic [2.2.73]

The ghost torments his family [too if ] while he was in human body he was affectionate to his people – and now that he is dead he becomes hostile to them. [2.20.15]

Sumati, the wife of Kratu, gave birth to Balakhilyas (Valikhilyas). Sixty thousand in number, resplendent like the blazing sun, although they were of the size of thumb – they became sages of sublimated vitality. [1.5.14-16]

Bodies are perishable, riches are transitory, death is ever present. Hence, virtue should be accumulated. [2.47.24]

When the soul of the dying person does not leave the body but lingers on, salt should be gifted as it opens the door of the heaven. [2.4.15]

The seekers of eternal wisdom should know that the material objects consist of infinitesimal particles. Y [3.3.39-40]

When the expiatory and deterrent tortures in hell cease, the living beings are born again in human (or animal) form with the characteristic traits of their sins. [2.46.9-10] (2)

One should worship Primeval Being with all eight organs of the body [astanga-pranama]. [cf. 3.24.40]

The amount of sleep, fears, and riches is not evenly distributed among people. City folks tend to suffer most.

A person who has mastered all the systems of Vedanta [philosophy] can be better than thousands of who perform sacrifice reciting mantras. A devotee of the Primeval Being may be better than ten millions of such Vedantins. [1.227.12] (3)

He who does not keep a cow at home, is unaware of the art of milking it or is averse to nourishing it, passes his life [quite] in vain. [3.29.45]

By means of japas, homas and danas he should sanctify his body. If this is performed, all obstacles and hindrances are dispelled. [2.21.23] (4)

If a man calls out the name of the Lord even in his dream it destroys all his sins. [1.227.13]

Praya is a penance wherein the mind is controlled. [3.21.4]

He who hears [no] praise of the good suffers from ear disease. [2.2.85]

Sleep, fear, sex and food are equal for all creatures. [2.49.53]

Certain men of sinful actions become ghosts after death [2.22.3.]

After eating garlic and onion one could [try to] perform Candrayana. [cf. 1.96.72]

People praise a rich man with great respect wishing for some monetary profit. [1.230.50]

If the woman is in a mood to receive the husband on any night he should satisfy her, remembering that lust in women is terrible. [1.95.24-26]

Those alone are worthy of recital who remain satisfied with whatever money is offered willingly by devotees. [3.20.35-37]

If a person steals flowers he is born as a poor beggar. [1.225.30]

There are many attributes of the beginningless soul. [cf. 2.46.31-32]

Going for wealth, delicate pleasures, and freedom are worthy goals in Hinduism. Do not wait to secure your happiness, then.

Vedas can be spoiled by misinterpreters. [cf. 1.223.28] (5)

Conception usually takes place within eight days. On the fifth day the woman is given sweet dishes which is a good tonic for the embryo. Astringent and pungent things should not be taken at all. [2.32.15-16]

God has created the universe with Vedas as the basis. [1.98.15]

He who rapes an immature girl becomes a serpent. [2.46.20-21]

For those walking on the path of Yama, dharma, artha, kama and moksa – or righteousness, wealth, pleasure (lust), and freedom – are secondary [2.48.4-6]

It is very rare to keep company with the good and noble people who can throw light on the nature of tattvas. [3.24.125]

In the house where there is no cow or the holy basil plant in the courtyard, where the inmates do not celebrate any festival for the gods, where there is no recitation of the narrative of God, one should never stay even for a moment, for association with the inmates of that house will lead to misery. [3.29.43-44]

[In Yamaloka (in a death-realm) a dead man gives up his dreadful body and receives an airy body of the size of a thumb. [cf. 2.18.39-40]

They say penance is a self-reflection, whereby reality is sought to be determined, or it is a way of repentance for the sins of previous life. [3.21.3]

Primeval God alone is the son because He protects against the hell Pum which is none other than this body itself. [3.26.16]

People do not realize the true form of Lord Hari. [3.24.12]

If a person casts off food and water and drinks only the water from My feet [caranamrta], he is not reborn on the earth. [2.36.16]

More important than fasting is the constant thought of Vasudeva.* [1.230.11]

One shall do today what is to be done tomorrow, before noon what is to be done afternoon – but whether done or not done, death does not wait whether a person has completed the task or left in incomplete. [2.49.41]

The Primeval Being alone is real. [3.28.68]

In this world of mortals . . . Kali is known as . . . the endless pain incarnate. [3.12.82-83]

Vaisva deva (oblations to fire before meals intended for all deities collectively) shall be performed – it is called Deva yajna. The offering to bhutas – living beings or spirits – is to be known as bhuta yajna. [1.50.71]

A ghost once said to a brahmin: “Excellent brahmin, our ghosthood is the outcome of our own misdeeds. We had been engaged in harassing others. [2.22.33]

He who imparts knowledge to the undeserving becomes a bull. [2.46.16]

There is no sin in accepting food from an ascetic, Vedic scholar or a high-souled person. [cf. 3.23.25]

Rare are the devotees of [God] in Kali age. [3.19.39]

A man depositing his semen in a vagina is actually sowing a seed. For the proper growth of the child the woman should avoid excessive sunshine. Cooling articles should be resorted to. [cf. 2.32.17]

Get a jar of heated gold manufactured by the smith. Fill it with milk or butter. With full devotion to God the Creator, Primeval Being (Guardian), God the Destroying Agent, and the guardians of quarters [dik-palas] give the same to a brahmin. What avails hundreds of other gifts is compared to this. [2.27.57]

People are content with their routine work. But that does not help them to reach the goal. It is the knowledge of truth or reality that effects release. [2.49.70]

Right action does not put one into bondage. [2.49.94]

By accepting duality as a matter of fact, one feels quite happy. [3.28.73]

[The nine “planets”:] The Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu [Rahu and Ketu are no planets, they are the Moon’s nodes against the constellations (TK).] The malignant aspect is countermanded respectively by wearing copper, bell metal, crystal, the red sandalwood, gold, silver, iron, lead and bell metal on their bodies. [1.101.2-3]

The eternal Goddess Laksmi is inseparable from the Lord. . . . She is always awakened. [3.16.3]

In this world, there are several women who though married are always widows. Those who do not regard Hari as their husband – Hari who is beginningless, eternal, the quintessence of the universe, beautiful, bestower of liberation and accomplisher of desires – are always widows. [3.19.31]

The existence of the universe is actual and not a fiction. Those who speak otherwise are slayers of truth. The course of the universe is true, o Lord, the service of the Lord is also true. [3.10.52-54]

Eyes are prone to gaze at men and women. Excessive doting takes away sleep. [3.28.77] (7)

The very sight of good men is better than the holy places of pilgrimage. [1.221.23]

Gold is the first offspring of fire, land of God, and cow of the sun. [2.42.4]

Usually, man completes the allotted span of life, dies and is born again. As a result of the influence of sacred rites and gifts he is able to complete his life’s term. [cf. 2.24.32-33]

A personal soul is an eye that perceives the universe. The knowledge of the universe is the knowledge belonging to Laksmi. [cf. 3.16.2]

Rare is the dialogue with God. [3.19.41]

Rise up, God, that are ever watchful. Deprived of true knowledge and engrossed in worldly affairs from kalpa to kalpa, I undergo tortuous pains. [3.2.64]

He who lays down his life for the sake of his preceptor, a brahmin, a woman or a child attains salvations. [2.38.16] (8)

Gist

The most unfortunate women sinned against their husbands earlier. The next most unfortunate women keep on sinning against their husband still (if their bad karma has not borne fruit full yet, for example).

The amount of sleep, nervousness and fears, and riches are not evenly distributed among people – city folks tend to suffer most.

Going for wealth, delicate pleasures, and freedom are worthy goals in Hinduism. Do not wait to secure your happiness, then.

Unfortunate women sin against their husbands, and then by stages get whiny, nervous and fearful and mad as a result. Wise women, on the other hand, secure their calm and happiness by reciting mantras, doing daily chores like milking, keeping good company, and thinking of God. They may also reach right action.

I have created a new page for the full text of the magnificent scritpure of the Garuda Purana. It is an abridged version, as the Purana has 19,000 lines. 🙂

The Purana contains much wisdom which is relevant to all, although Hindus and Buddhists will recognise some of the Dharma.

I have also created a new Category called ‘Garuda Purana Wisdom’ which will act as a home for all related posts.

The Garuda Purana is one of the Vishnu Puranas. It is in the form of a dialog between Vishnu and Garuda, the King of Birds. The second section of this Purana (given here) deals with issues connected with death, particularly funeral rites and the metaphysics of reincarnation. Portions of the Garuda Purana are used by some Hindus as funeral liturgy. Indeed, some consider it unlucky to read this text except during funerals.

Of interest are the intermediate states between birth and rebirth, which roughly correspond to the western concepts of Hell and Heaven. Since this was written during the medieval era, it is possible that the writer of this text had contact with Christianity. Earlier Hindu texts do not elaborate about ‘hell’ and ‘heaven,’ at least not to this extent, and the subject is completely absent in the oldest texts. Here, the torments of Hell are described in terms that would not be out of place in a Baptist revival tent (or Dante, for that matter). In addition, the four-square city of Yama, the God of Death, is reminiscent of the heavenly city in Revelation. However, these are way stations between incarnations (or, as termed in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Bardos), not a permanent destination.

(L) Karura at Sanjūsangendō 三十三間堂 in Kyoto (see full image below)
(M) Modern NOH Mask. Found on J-web. (R) Modern NOH Mask. Found on J-web.
See Learn More section below for links to these J-web estores.

Sanskrit = Garuḍa (the Devourer), Chinese = Jiālóuluó
Japanese = Karura, Korean = 가루라, Tibet = Khyung
A mythical bird-man creature of Hindu lore who was later adopted into the Buddhist pantheon as a protector deity. The gold-colored Garuda (Skt.) has a human body but the wings, face, and beak of an eagle-like bird. In early Hindu literature, Garuda is granted immortality by Lord Vishnu and serves as Vishnu’s mount (avatar). In Tibetan tradition, Garuda is a mythical bird, similar to an eagle, but of gigantic proportions, able to block the sunlight with its size. In Japan, Garuda is an enormous fire-breathing eagle-man with golden feathers and magic gems crowning its head. Garuda’s various attributes are:

Personifies the blazing rays of sun, the wind, and the esoteric teachings of the Vedas (Indian texts of sacred knowledge).

Fierce bird of prey, variously described as an eagle, hawk, or kite. Can spew fire from mouth; flapping of wings sounds like clap of thunder.

Mortal Enemy of the naga, a Hindu group including serpents & dragons. Karura feeds on the naga.

Only naga who possess a Buddhist talisman, or naga who have converted to Buddhism, can escape from the naga-eating Karura. <Source: Flammarion>

Karura’s hatred of the naga stems from an ancient feud between Karura’s mother (Skt. Vinata) and her sister (the mother of the naga).

First to teach mankind how to cure snake poison.

In Vedic and Hindu mythology, Karura steals the nectar of immortality from Indra in order to gain the release of his enslaved mother. The pot of nectar is eventually returned to Indra, on condition that Indra grant Karura permission to feed on naga.

In the Purana (religious texts of ancient Hindu myths), Karura accidentally drops the bile of a slain Ashura; the bile falls to earth where it solidifies into veins of emerald. This story sparked the belief that touching emeralds neutralizes any poison.

In Southeast Asia the walls of temples are often decorated with Karura, as at Angkor and Java

Carries the sacred Nyoi Hōju 如意宝珠 (Chn. = Rúyì 如意) jewel on its neck. This pearl is said to grant every wish and remove every suffering. According to legend, this jewel emerged from the head of the dragon king 竜王. <Sources: JAANUS and Digital Dictionary of Chinese Buddhism>

In Japanese art, Karura is depicted as an ornate bird with human head; sometimes shown treading on serpents or holding serpents. Karura does not appear often in Japanese Buddhist sculpture, and is rarely the object of central devotion.

Like the Phoenix, Garuḍa is associated with fire and serves as a symbol of flame (said to represent the purification of the mind by the burning away of all material desires). In Japan, the term Karura-en 迦楼羅焔 refers to the flames spewed from Karura’s mouth, while the term Karura Enkō 迦楼羅焔光 refers to the feiry halo (kaen kōhai 火焔光背) often attached to statues of Fudō Myō-ō. Some say Fudō’s customary flame halo originated from the vomit of Karura, while others say the halo resembles Karura’s outstretched wings. Karura’s head is sometimes depicted on Fudō’s halo as well. <Source: JAANUS>

There is a great deal of confusion about Karura and the mythical Phoenix. Many web sites refer to the Karura as Phoenix, and vice versa, but this is wrong. The two are different mythical creatures.

Garuda is the national symbol of both Thailand and Indonesia. The national airline of Indonesian, moreover, is named Garuda Indonesia.

Karura. Painted Wood. One of Kannon’s 33 Forms
Hase Dera (Hase Kannon Temple) in Kamakura
From a set of 33 presented to Hase Dera
by Shogun Yoshimasa (1449-1471 AD)

The 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke-kyō 法華経) is popularly known as the Kannon Sutra (Jp. Kannonkyō 觀音経). It lists thirty-three forms that Kannon assumes when aiding sentient beings, including that of a Karura, dragon, monk, nun, official, child, general, king, & Buddha.

Head of Garuda with body of Lion
The Eight-Legged Lion – Son of Union between Garuda and Lion.
One of the Three Symbols of Victory in the Fight against Disharmony.
From Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture, by Loden Sherap Dagyab Rinpoche
Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-047-9. Click here to buy book at Amazon

Image made by Ida Made Tlaga in Sanur (Bali) around 1880.
The original is kept at the library of Leiden University. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Karura is the name of a legendary bird
Karura flys in the four heavens over Mt. Shumisen
Eating dragons
Its wings shine with a golden color
Magical gems are at its head
Blazes from its mouth
Over 1,200 km. in size

Karyōbinga (Skt. = Kalavinka) 迦陵頻伽
Celestial beings who play music, dance, and fly through the air. They appear in many forms,
often with bird’s body and angelic head, and are sometimes associated with Amida Nyorai.
They appear often in Buddhist paintings, ritual robes, murals, and temple decorations.

Japanese GIGAKU Masks of Karura
At the Tokyo National Museum
Gigaku 伎楽 = Masked theatrical performances.In Japan, Karura 迦楼羅 also refers to a gigakumen 伎楽面 (gigaku mask) representing the mythical bird and used in a gigaku bird dance that was performed during the 8th to 12th century.